Poll: 68% of Jews would refuse to live in same building as an
Arab

By Eli Ashkenazi and Jack Khoury

Haaretz

Adar 23, 5766

Sixty-eight percent of
Israeli Jews would refuse to live in the same apartment building as an
Israeli Arab, according to the results of an annual poll released
Wednesday by the Center for the Struggle Against Racism.

The "Index
of Racism Towards Arab Palestinian Citizens of the State of Israel,"
conducted by Geocartographia, revealed on 26 percent of Jews in Israel
would agree to live with Arab neighbors in the same building.

Forty-six percent of Jews would refuse to allow an Arab to visit
their home while 50 percent would welcome an Arab visitor. Forty-one
percent of Jewish support the segregation of Jews and Arabs in places of
recreation and 52 percent of such Jews would oppose such a move.

The inclination toward segregation rises as the income level of
the poll respondent drops and also as the level of religious observance
rises. Support for segregation between Jews and Arabs is also higher among
Jews of Middle Eastern origin as opposed to those of European
origin.

"Racism is becoming mainstream. When people talk about
transfer or about Arabs as a demographic time-bomb, no one raises their
voice against such statements. This is a worrisome phenomenon," Bachar
Ouda, director of the Center for the Struggle Against Racism, said on
Tuesday. The report covered the year 2005 and the center will, in the
future, present monthly and bi-annual polls.

The index, edited by
Ouda and attorney Ala Khaider, surveys racially-motivated incidents that
took place during 2005 and examines the attitudes of Israeli Jews toward
Israeli Arabs.

During the course of 2005, 225 racially-motivated
incidents directed at Arab citizens were reported to the center or in the
media. The center believes that less than 20 percent of attacks or other
incidents are ever reported.

Seventy-fire percent of the reports on
racist incidents came from institutional sources such as government
ministries, government companies or publicly-elected officials.

The poll further revealed that 63 percent of Jewish Israelis agree
with the statement, "Arabs are a security and demographic threat to the
state." Thirty-one percent of Jews did not agree. Agreement with the
statement was strongest among Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews and
low-income earners.

Forty percent of Jews believe "the state needs
to support the emigration of Arab citizens" and just 52 percent don't
agree with the statement.

Thirty-four percent also agreed with the
statement that "Arab culture is inferior to Israeli culture." Fifty-seven
percent did not agree with the statement.

Half of Israeli Jews
express fear or discomfort when hearing people speaking Arabic. Eighteen
percent of Jews said they feel hate when hearing Arabic
speakers.

Responding to the report, Hadash Chairman MK Mohammed
Barakeh said racism against Israeli Arabs "is a direct result of official
racist and discriminatory policies" dictated by the government.